{"id":19615,"date":"2020-10-11T05:30:27","date_gmt":"2020-10-11T09:30:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=19615"},"modified":"2020-09-08T17:15:44","modified_gmt":"2020-09-08T21:15:44","slug":"classical-crossover-with-hso-presents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2020\/10\/11\/classical-crossover-with-hso-presents\/","title":{"rendered":"Classical Crossover with ‘HSO Presents’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Note: This story appeared previously in Bold Life<\/i> Magazine in Fall 2019; the dates mentioned refer to 2019 shows as well as performances scheduled for 202 (but ultimately canceled in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic).<\/strong><\/p>\n

In an effort to expand the breadth and depth of its cultural reach in Western North Carolina, the Hendersonville Symphony Orchestra has launched the \u201cHSO Presents\u201d concert series. Surveying musical forms well outside the classical idiom, the schedule of live performances showcases traditional styles, presenting them in a variety of locations beyond the concert hall.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe\u2019ve been promoting orchestral music for 48 years in the community,\u201d says Hendersonville Symphony Orchestra’s Director of Marketing and Special Events, Paul Conroy. \u201cThis year, we decided to broaden our musical footprint. We decided on including different forms of traditional music: bluegrass, Texas swing, jazz, and even a combo of mountain music and orchestra string quartet.\u201d That the styles selected fit in with classical music. As presented, each genre educational and historic, and it feeds listeners’ musical curiosity. \u201cAnd those are all the things we\u2019ve been doing all along with classical music,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

The concert series takes music to listeners, with shows scheduled in places like Triskelion Brewery (hosting a three-band trip through jazz history in October) to the Bo Thomas Auditorium in Flat Rock (for now-canceled] shows scheduled for in March and April 2020). \u201cWe think that broadening our appeal different to genres will bring in a bigger audience,\u201d Conroy says. \u201cAnd we\u2019ll be able to feed that entertainment buzz that\u2019s needed out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

In their own ways, the traditional forms of music featured in the concert series are as anchored in history as classical music. Conroy mentions the October 26 jazz showcase featuring the Conor Law Trio, Hot Club of Asheville and Queen Bee & the Honeylovers. \u201cIt\u2019s music from the ’30s, ’40s, and ’50s,\u201d he explains. \u201cIt\u2019s very pure: what being presented is exactly what you would [have seen and heard] 90 years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n

The bluegrass-focused show \u2013 scheduled for April 18 in Flat Rock \u2013 features the Kruger Brothers. \u201cWhen we approached them, they said, ‘Bring your string quartet, and we’ll do it together!’\u201d Conroy says. \u201cWe immediately felt we had a good connection. We\u2019re not only reaching out to a new audience, but we\u2019re crossing over with our classical audience.\u201d<\/p>\n

That crossover approach is a creative one, but it also speaks to the realities of today’s musical marketplace. \u201cIf you look at classical music in the 21st century, it has an aging audience,\u201d Conroy acknowledges. \u201cA lot of symphony organizations around the country are closing their shops and not doing concerts anymore.\u201d He says that by expanding their musical menu to include other styles, they can bridge the gap. \u201cWe’re hoping that this concert series will blend with the core audience we have now. And we think that it’s a good fit, musically.<\/p>\n

But the HSO isn’t leaving that core audience behind. The HSO Presents concert series also includes a number of classically-focused concerts that seamlessly combine the traditional and the modern. \u201cEach one has a theme,\u201d Conroy says. September’s \u201cAmerican Icons\u201d presented music from the Great American Songbook, works by acclaimed 20th<\/sup> century composers George and Ira Gershwin, Duke Ellington, Cole Porter, Rodgers and Hammerstein and more.<\/p>\n

The October 12 concert at Blue Ridge Community College’s concert hall will center around music form Vienna, Austria. A December program will feature holiday music, and March 28th’s \u201cOnce Upon a Time\u201d will showcase music associated with classic storytelling: Tchaikovsky\u2019s \u201cSleeping Beauty Suite,\u201d as well as selections from \u201cBeauty and the Beast\u201d and Berlioz’s \u201cSymphony Fantastique.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Hendersonville Symphony Orchestra’s season closer will be a musical salute to the joys of food and drink. \u201cThe possibilities are endless there,\u201d says Conroy. \u201cEspecially with us being in a such a foodie area.\u201d The program will feature Bach’s \u201cCoffee Cantata\u201d along with other culinary- and gastronomically-themed classics.<\/p>\n

Conroy believes that the musical variety offered by HSO’s concert series is unique. \u201cAsheville is so rich with great music venues,\u201d he concedes. \u201cBut if you come down the mountain a little bit, there\u2019s not much else like what we\u2019re putting on. So we hope to turn some heads.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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